Keystone/Breckenridge Land Swap Moving Forward

The proposed swap of private land in the old Chihuahua town site along Peru Creek, near Keystone, involving the U.S. Forest Service and the Town of Breckenridge won’t encounter any substantive opposition from Summit County, commissioners indicated at their recent work session.

Forest Service land specialist Paul Semmer presented the board of commissioners with the particulars of the swap, which will allow his agency to acquire about 40 acres of undeveloped land from Keystone-area developer Gary Miller, who owns the Chihuahua site along with several partners, in exchange for Dercum Dash, a little more than 20 valuable acres directly east of the River Run Gondola in Keystone.

The proposed swap also includes two parcels of Forest Service land in Breckenridge: the “Wedge,” about 42 acres in Cucumber Gulch, and the “Claimjumper,” about 10 acres along Airport Road.

If the swap goes as planned, the Town of Breckenridge will buy both parcels, with the intention of maintaining the Wedge as open space and developing at least a portion of the Claimjumper as affordable housing. Semmer emphasized that years of planning have already gone into the swap proposal, and the commissioners agreed.